Sustainable Aquaculture @ Stirling

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Fish By-Products and Blockchain Technology to Maximize Utilisation

Wesley Malcorps, a researcher at the Institute of Aquaculture shares his work on how a circular economy can be enabled for the utilisation of fish processing waste using blockchain technologies.

Wesley Malcorps

See my latest video for more information on fish by-products, the circular economy and blockchain technology to maximize utilisation. Sustainability analyses of aquaculture typically ignore the fate and value of processing by-products. Our research indicates (nutritional) potential to increase the direct food, feed and industrial value of European aquaculture, without an increase in production volumes or the use of additional resources. However, if we want to utilise these by-products more efficient and safely, traceability is a must. Strategic utilisation requires traceability and transparency along the supply chain to identify inefficient use of by-products, verify origin, quality and treatments used. This is crucial to verify the by-product status in relation to (EU) laws on category contamination and hygiene risks. Therefore, we explore the role of distributed ledger technology (DLT e.g., blockchain), which could inform stakeholders on a shared network throughout value chains. Such a decentralised (public) record system allows for secure and transparent transactions, in which information is nearly impossible to change or hack. The decentralised and immutable nature of a blockchain enables trust between stakeholders that facilitates increase supply chain efficiency and transparency, supporting circular economy principles and meeting consumer demands for sustainable products.

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